Newport Beach Skyline Watch, Part 1: The High-Rises Reshaping Newport Center

What high-rises are coming to Newport Beach? Several residential towers up to 22 stories are moving through city approval around Fashion Island and Newport Center, including the branded Ritz-Carlton Residences and twin condo towers replacing the Big Newport theater — the biggest change to the city's skyline in decades.

Newport Beach Is About to Look Different

Ask anyone who's lived here a while and they'll tell you: Newport Beach doesn't do high-rises. Low, coastal, spread out — that's always been the character. But drive past Fashion Island over the next few years and that's going to change. A cluster of residential towers, some as tall as 22 stories, is working its way through city approvals right around Newport Center.

This isn't oceanfront development, and it's not going to touch Lido Isle or the Peninsula. But it is going to reshape one of the most visible corners of Newport Beach, and it's going to create a brand-new category of luxury housing here — walkable, amenity-loaded, and completely different from the waterfront homes this market is known for.

Dar Mardan is starting this as an ongoing series, because this pipeline is moving fast and there's a lot to track. Consider this Part 1: a full rundown of what's approved, what's proposed, and what's still just a rumor with a very valuable piece of land attached.

Why Now? Newport Beach's State-Mandated Housing Math

None of this is happening by accident. California requires every city to plan for a set number of new housing units, and Newport Beach's number for this cycle is 4,845, set through the state's Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) process.

Rather than spreading that growth through existing neighborhoods, the city's adopted Housing Element channels it into six specific focus areas — among them Newport Center, which was handed the largest allocation of any of them. That's the policy engine behind everything below.

The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Newport Beach

Renderings and floor plans: view the official project site (opens in a new tab).

This is the project that started it all. On the VEA Newport Beach campus (formerly the Newport Beach Marriott) at 900 Newport Center Drive, developers Eagle Four Partners and Lyon Living are converting a slice of the hotel into a 22-story, roughly 295-foot condominium tower carrying the Ritz-Carlton name — about 159 branded residences directly across from Fashion Island.

Irvine-based MVE Architects designed the tower with a nod to Fashion Island's original mid-century vision, and once complete, the residences will be run by dedicated Ritz-Carlton staff, separate from the adjoining VEA hotel operation, all under Marriott's umbrella. The project has been approved and construction is expected to break ground soon.

Twin Towers Where the Movie Theater Used to Be

No dedicated project site exists yet for this one. These renderings were released to press by Related California — view the coverage and renderings here (opens in a new tab, image courtesy of Related California).

This one's going to sting a little for longtime locals. The Regal Edwards Big Newport — home of the Newport Beach Film Festival since it opened in 1969 — is set to close and be demolished, likely sometime around late 2026 or 2027.

In its place, Related California has proposed twin 22-story condo towers (about 270 feet each) at 210 and 300 Newport Center Drive, totaling roughly 150 for-sale units ranging from two to four bedrooms, plus penthouses, live-work spaces, ground-floor retail, and shared pool and fitness amenities. The Planning Commission approved the project in March 2026, though appeals from preservation and environmental groups are still pending before City Council — so this one's approved on paper but not fully locked in yet.

The Smaller Projects Worth Knowing About

Not everything in Newport Center is a headline-grabbing tower. A few smaller pieces of the puzzle:

• The old car wash site. At 150 Newport Center Drive, a four-story building with 28 luxury condos is replacing what used to be the Beacon Bay Car Wash. It's approved, with construction expected to start in 2026.
• The Irvine Company's apartment pipeline. As the majority owner of Newport Center, the Irvine Company has been allocated up to 1,500 units across the district. Two projects are already moving: a proposed 600-unit apartment community at Block 100 (100–190 Newport Center Drive), and a 184-unit expansion of the Villas at Fashion Island, which broke ground in late 2025 and is targeting completion around early 2028.

The Wildcard: A November Ballot Measure

Here's the thing to watch. A citizen-backed initiative will go before Newport Beach voters on November 3, 2026, seeking to significantly scale back the city's overall housing capacity. If it passes, it wouldn't retroactively kill approved projects like the Ritz-Carlton Residences, but it could reshape how much more gets approved after it — including pieces of the Irvine Company pipeline that haven't secured full entitlements yet.

What This Means If You Own (or Want to Own) in Newport Beach

If you're on the Peninsula, Lido Isle, or Corona del Mar, none of this touches your view or your comps directly. But it does matter for the broader Newport Beach and Orange County market:

• A new inventory category is emerging. Branded, lock-and-leave condo living steps from Fashion Island's restaurants and shops is a genuinely new product type for this city.
• It signals where Newport Beach is investing. When the Irvine Company commits this much residential capital to Newport Center, it's a statement about where the city's growth is headed for the next decade.
• Timing matters for buyers. Pre-construction pricing on projects like the Ritz-Carlton Residences won't stay pre-construction pricing for long once units start moving.

FAQ

Is Newport Beach building oceanfront high-rises?

No. All of the current high-rise activity is concentrated around Newport Center and Fashion Island, well inland from the Peninsula and Balboa Island. Coastal, low-rise neighborhoods aren't part of this pipeline.

When will the Ritz-Carlton Residences be finished?

The project is approved and construction is expected to start soon, but the city has not published a confirmed completion date. Dar Mardan will share timeline updates in this series as they're announced.

Could the November 2026 ballot measure stop these projects?

It's unlikely to unwind projects that are already approved, but it could limit how much additional housing capacity Newport Center gets going forward. Worth watching if you're tracking the long-term pipeline.

How many new housing units is Newport Beach actually required to plan for?

The state assigned Newport Beach a Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) target of 4,845 units for the current cycle, which runs through 2029. Newport Center alone was allocated the largest share of any of the city's six designated growth areas.

Will any of these new Newport Center units be below market rate?

It varies by project. The Related California twin-tower proposal includes no below-market units. The Ritz-Carlton Residences project pays the city a per-unit fee that partly funds affordable housing elsewhere, and the Irvine Company has committed to a minimum number of affordable units across its broader Newport Center pipeline by 2029. None of the current projects are majority-affordable developments.

Is anything actually under construction right now, or is this all still on paper?

A few pieces have already broken ground. The 184-unit expansion of the Villas at Fashion Island started site work in late 2025, and the 28-condo project on the old car wash site is expected to begin construction sometime in 2026. The two headline towers — the Ritz-Carlton Residences and the Related California twin towers — are approved but not yet under construction as of this post.

More Coming in This Series

This is Part 1 of an ongoing look at Newport Beach's changing skyline — Dar Mardan will post updates here as projects break ground, get appealed, or hit new milestones (including whatever happens at the ballot box this November). Follow along for the next installment.

In the meantime, if you're weighing how any of this affects your own property or your next move in Newport Beach, Corona del Mar, or coastal Orange County, schedule a complimentary consultation with Dar Mardan.

About Dar Mardan

Dar Mardan, with his wife and design partner, Vida.

Dar Mardan leads Vidar Group Real Estate alongside his wife, Vida, helping Orange County homeowners make informed decisions about preparing, pricing, marketing, and selling their homes.

Whether a property needs strategic repairs, improved presentation, a new pricing approach, help recovering from an expired listing, or hands-on coordination before going back on the market, Dar and the team take a detailed, full-service approach.

Vida brings a strong design eye and an exceptional ability to quickly understand what clients are looking for. Through a focused conversation about their needs, preferences, and priorities, she identifies properties that are genuinely worth their time—helping buyers narrow the search and focus on homes that are the best fit.

Together, Dar and Vida combine real estate strategy, financial perspective, design, presentation, and an understanding of what buyers are looking for to help clients make more confident real estate decisions.

📞 714-612-3870 ✉️ dar@vidargroupre.com 🌐 vidargroupre.com 📷 @vidargroupre 📍 Newport Beach, CA | DRE# 02121982

Sources: City of Newport Beach Housing Element FAQ (newportbeachca.gov); Orange County Business Journal, "Putting Up The Ritz" (ocbj.com).